A TALENTED team of sixth form students has triumphed in the regional finals of a European Youth Parliament UK (EYPUK) debating competition.

Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools Year 12 pupils Nell Sampson, Hannah Jobling, Liv Jones, Anya Thomas, Charlie Freyer, Sam Rolls, Mila Blackwell and Amelia Walker joined forces to win the South Wales Regional section.

As part of the Committee on Gender Quality and Female Rights (FEMM), the students had to oppose a logical argument against creating a healthy and supportive environment regardless of what gender people choose to identify as.

Naturally, they found this proposition difficult to debate against, but still managed to succeed in blocking the resolution with the strength and cohesion of their argument.

In the second debate, they made their own proposal in which they tackled the issues of drink spiking in the UK.

They asked whether the government should do anything to combat the problem, submitted a resolution and outlined the work that businesses and the state could enforce.

The resolution was passed, gaining overwhelming support from all those involved in the debate and crowning a memorable and successful day.

The Monmouth students, who travelled to Cardiff with Kate Bourne, teacher of English and Head of Year 9 at Monmouth School for Girls, will now take part in the national finals in September.